I have always been a fan of Foursquare. What they brought to social media was an exploration into location based social media—testing the waters as to the privacy boundaries, or lack there of, and all issues associated with check-in updates. The adoption rate has been fantastic for this emerging network, and with their ability to strike deals up with European characters Foursquare seemed to be on a roll. In addition the standing offer to be bought out for 100 million+, the writing was on the wall.

Enter Facebook So here we are, about to see Facebook jump into the location-game. Foursquare might have wanted to take that offer after all. They aren’t necessarily out of the game, but we could have seen this coming with the roll-out of a retail storefront sticker campaign that is being tested. Nonetheless, the Internet continues to mature, and I am excited to see it happen.

What does this mean for SMB and Retailers? Contrary to the constant smattering of dissenters, Facebook is very much so poised to teach the world how to integrate social media into SMB and retail storefronts. I imagine that in a years time we no longer will be hearing people holding onto the notion that Google Adwords and SEO are the only way to promote their businesses—to be first to the party for SMB on Facebook was a position of yesterday.

So here are some tips for those not ready for this shift:

For quite some time now we have been talking to clients [clients of Quango Interaction Design] about the immidiate impact that the SMB audience can see when utilizing social media channels; prodominantly Facebook. As if 50+% of the online population in the US wasn’t enough to captivate marketing manager imaginations, Facebook has taken it upon itself to push the subject.

SMB Facebook Window Decals!

Back at Quango we are already implimenting social media handles in identity systems because we knew this was right around the corner. The reality is that Facebook is now in the drivers seat and is making a concerted effort to not only expand their reach through better UI ['fan' becomes 'like'] into emerging markets and more topical brand association, it is now looking to arm some of those brands with tools to make it worth their while.

A recent article sent around by a colleague that was written by Ars Technica talks about a Facebook psychological study that based consumer experience on physiological reactions while viewing content. In this article they conclude that Facebook users have a more pleasing experience when diving deeper into profiles, as opposed to just reading the Facebook wall that collates the information from various feeds for them. This study is poingnant because it is hiting home what we have all known about Facebook; we go there to have a closer mode of interaction with people we want to be connected to. The same holds true with the entities that hold profiles, but are not necessarily people.

Simply put it is time for SMB to make a real standardized effort on Facebook. Users are primed and ready for this engagement, and in the end the shoppes that keep their content fresh and on target with their consumers will reap the rewards. Facebook is betting on it, in fact they are shipping out decals to be placed in store-front windows with incentives for doing so. It is not a new strategy. Citysearch has been doing it for years, and people actually found it useful. Now, Facebook will do it and prove that their content deliver method is more scalable.